NT Reporter
Panaji
In a call to rethink environmental sustainability, scientist Sharad Kale, special advisor to the state government on waste management and environment sustainability, on Tuesday said that waste needs to be renamed as a resource to give it true value and ensure it is taken seriously.
The former scientist from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) said that waste by its definition implies something that needs to be thrown away. “The moment you call it a resource, it becomes important and worth recycling,” he said.
Kale, who serves as advisor to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, pointed out that the overall perception of waste is flawed. “All these years, we have been calling it waste and that’s why the problem of managing garbage is created,” he said, adding that the Goa government is unfortunately landed with the task of managing 877 tonnes of waste generated daily by its residents.
Highlighting the lack of a circular economy in the state, Kale questioned the current practices. “A village 50 km away sends its banana peel to the Solid Waste Treatment Facility at Saligao for treatment. Why can’t it be treated at the site itself?” he asked.
He further said that “dumping yards, legacy waste sites are a shame and it is happening due to a vicious circle of creating litter and not practising the principles of circular economy”.
However, Kale disclosed that the Bicholim waste treatment plant – a decentralised solid waste and organic composting facility – is now successful in composting waste in 24 hours.
Using the Nisargruna (biodegradable waste resource) rapid composting technology designed by Kale, the facility shreds segregated kitchen, vegetable and garden waste and mixes it with a specialised bacterial culture, converting one metric tonne of biodegradable waste into 150 kg of organic manure within 24 hours. Kale delivered his remarks at the 16th edition of the Conference of Alternative Fuel and Raw Material Usage, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-Goa, which brought together leaders from the cement industry.
Speaking at the inaugural session, CII-Goa chairman Mahendra Wani said that the event aimed to make the Indian cement industry net zero in carbon emissions by leveraging alternative fuels such as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) produced by waste treatment plants during operations.
